It’s been a busy couple of weeks for our ATE Sales team – Mike Knight, ATE Sales Manager

First up was AvMA’s Annual Clinical Negligence Conference followed, a week later, by the APIL Advanced Brain and Spinal Cord Conference. Both exhibitions are regularly in our events calendar as they provide an invaluable opportunity for us to connect with new prospects and re-connect with our current partners. 

Both events were extremely busy for us, so apologies to anyone who didn’t get the chance to speak to us on our stands, please do contact us below if you would like a chat! Even though each event has a different demographic of delegates, our message is always the same.

For more than a decade, ARAG has led the way in delivering innovative after-the-event insurance solutions to law firms throughout the country. Many will talk of ‘access to justice’, but ARAG is still driven by its founding principle, more than 80 years old, that “…every person should be able to assert their legal rights, not just those who can afford it.”

Nowhere is this principle more important than in our mission to ensure justice continues to be accessible to those who have sustained severe and sometimes catastrophic injuries. At a time when claimant firms and their clients have been confronted with successive challenges, seemingly perpetual reform and shifting regulatory and market conditions, ARAG has stood firm, developing and adapting products to satisfy increasingly demanding requirements, especially in the personal injury and clinical negligence sectors.

The design of our Recourse range of after-the-event solutions has always focused on simplicity. Products that a solicitor can easily explain and a client can readily understand; products free from complex underwriting mechanisms and onerous conditions; products, put simply, that work.

As a result, we are regularly shortlisted for a string of awards, from Personal Injury Insurance Provider of the Year to Legal Expenses Team of the Year, ARAG has been recognised as the outstanding provider of legal expenses insurance solutions for law firms and their clients.

I always enjoy attending events like those put on by AvMA and APIL as they offer a perfect mix of business and networking. Then again, maybe that’s why I have now decided to take on the challenge of Dry July!

The idea of going alcohol free during a summer month of BBQ’s, sporting events and corporate entertaining is not going to be easy but it is for a great cause and a charity close to our hearts at ARAG; FOCUS. The motivation to stay off the alcohol and enjoy a range of non-alcoholic beverages throughout the month comes from the knowledge that any donations received will enable the charity to invest in projects that make hospitals better. Their aim is to create a comfortable and positive environment for all their patients and staff, investing in improvements to buildings, state of the art equipment and extra care over and above that provided by the NHS. If you would like to show your support, please click here. 

Going forward, we are supporting the St John’s Chamber and AvMA Charity Dinner in Bristol on the 21^st September and exhibiting at the APIL Clinical Negligence Conference in Brighton on the 5^th and 6^th of October – I hope to see you there!

Contact details:

Mike Knight, ATE Account Manager

Email: mike.knight@arag.co.uk

Mail: 9 Whiteladies Road, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 1NN

Mobile: 07795 636391

Guest Blog - Our Product Taskforce team experience in Bristol

On Wednesday 7th of June, a group of international ARAG colleagues met up in Bristol to work together for the Task Forces initiative.

The main idea behind the Task Force project is to bring together product developers from different ARAG countries to brainstorm and push innovation forward in quick and unexpected ways.

Our two groups, focusing on the topics of Sharing Economy and Cyber, discussed product ideas and future market trends, presenting their results to each other at the end of the day. The presentations were interesting and to the point, as everyone worked hard to prepare the road for the final goal: the International Product Workshop in September!

We strongly believe that new creative opportunities can be created through cross-country discussions and idea-sharing. It was a real pleasure to be hosted by ARAG UK in Bristol, having the chance to make an office tour within the premises and meet all the colleagues.

Many Thanks to everyone and see you next time!

Jennifer, Ilaria and Camilla, ARAG SE

  

Why serving our customers is so important – George Bladon, Corporate Account Manager

I’ve just returned from a busy but enjoyable couple of days on the sunny English Riviera, attending the NFRN Annual Conference, in Torquay.

The NFRN represent a large number of independent retailers across the UK and Ireland and they were gathered together in order to discuss the various challenges they face in their daily business lives: from financial pressures due to increased business rates and competition from supermarket chains, to onerous legislation and regulations.

Being able to engage directly with the end user of our product was a fantastic opportunity for us and an important reminder of why we place so much emphasis on being an innovative and flexible partner.

Over the last two days, we spoke to independent retailers about the wide range of legal issues that concern them, including employment issues, tax enquiries, licensing matters and contractual disputes.

With lawyers charging hundreds of pounds per hour, the cost of getting involved in any sort of legal dispute could be crippling, so it was great to be able to reassure NFRN members about the benefits of the policy and how it can help with advice, assistance, online legal resources and vital legal protection.
Clearly, not all retailers are going to face the same issues. For an organisation like the NFRN, looking to provide its members with a product that really meets their needs and provides great value, working with a flexible and innovative partner like ARAG is invaluable.

As a company, we have something in common with such customers, who strive for independence and self-fulfillment. As an independent, family-owned business, we are free to make our own decisions, without constraint, making independence our most valuable asset. It provides a significant business advantage for our partners as we are quick, flexible and easy to do business with, enabling us to work out a solution that works for you.

If you are looking to offer your customers a tailored legal expenses and assistance insurance product then please get in touch to find out how we can provide the solutions to assist you.

Contact details:

George Bladon, Corporate Account Manager
Email: george.bladon@arag.co.uk
Mail: 9 Whiteladies Road, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 1NN
Phone: 0117 307 2262
Mobile: 07766 130469

Getting ready for the insurance distribution directive

Background to the IDD

The European Union Insurance Distribution Directive ("IDD") is designed to make it easier for firms to trade cross-border, create a level playing field among all participants and strengthen policyholder protection. The Directive updates the 2002 Insurance Mediation Directive ("IMD"), which set out a framework for regulating EU insurance brokers, agents and other intermediaries.

The overriding aim of the IDD is to ensure that all parties in the insurance distribution chain act professionally, honestly, fairly and in the best interests of their clients.

The IDD is wide-ranging but some of its specific provisions include:

• Professional development: employees of insurance intermediaries must complete at least 15 hours of professional training per year.
• Disclosure: before the conclusion of a contract, intermediaries must disclose to their customers the nature and basis of their remuneration (e.g. fees and commission).
• Remuneration: intermediaries must not remunerate or assess the performance of employees in a way which conflicts with their duty to act in the best interests of their clients.
• Provision of information: intermediaries must provide certain information to their customers to summarise the main features of the proposed contract).

Transposition into UK law

The IDD is currently subject to consultation and the Government intends to transpose it into UK laws by February 2018.

Full details of the Government’s consultation can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/transposition-of-the-insurance-distribution-directive/transposition-of-the-insurance-distribution-directive

Impact

The FCA is currently assessing the impact of IDD and we are engaging in the consultation process. Where we intend to introduce particular measures in response to the IDD we will be communicating suitable statements as our responses become clear.

Demands and needs

 One specific requirement of the IDD concerns demands and needs statements (D & NS) and we have been able to take an early look at that particular aspect of the directive. It is the responsibility of the organisation or person who sells an insurance policy to a customer to provide a D & NS.

• The IDD makes it clear that firms need to specify the customer’s insurance demands and needs based on information obtained by the firm from the customer. Firms must take an active role in identifying the customer’s demands and needs (through asking questions) early in the sales process.
  
• To comply with this new requirement, firms need to:
  
• identify the customer’s demands and needs and match them to the available products, and
  
• state the customer’s demands and needs to assist them in making an informed decision.
  
• The distinction between advised and non-advised sales will remain. For non-advised retail sales, the FCA will not expect firms to carry out a detailed investigation of the customer’s circumstances, but customer demands and needs must be identified and it must be ensured that contracts proposed provide cover that meets those demands and needs. For example, a firm which sells motor insurance on a non-advised basis would be expected to ask the customer questions about the level of cover they require, the amount of excess they are prepared to pay, and the type/amount of their driving (amongst other relevant things). The product offering should be limited to products which would meet these specified demands and needs.
  
• The FCA will amend its guidance to make it clear that firms must ensure that they identify and specify the demands and needs of the customer. For example, it would not be appropriate to provide a generic statement of demands and needs where the firm has not first taken steps to identify the demands and needs of the actual customer. However, generic D & NS may be appropriate if the firm has narrowed the product options it offers to only those where the customer’s demands and needs match those in the statement.

Our response

We have taken the opportunity to improve our suite of D & NS in advance of the implementation of IDD.

Since it is a seller’s (and not a product designer’s) responsibility to provide customers with a D& NS, agents are free to use their own documents if they wish or to re-brand ours. We will ask to see a copy of an agent’s own document if they do not wish to use the ARAG D & NS.

Our new D & NS comprise of question sets to encourage customers to actively consider what they want from their Legal Expenses or Assistance Insurance policy and raise awareness of policy features at the point of sale. The new D & NS literature can be down- loaded as PDF documents from the product section on our website. Items are suitable for our standard product range. Agents may wish to modify the standard D & NS where we have designed bespoke content into a product or where products target customer groups with particular interests or concerns.